Agents

AI layer5 essays

Tool use, autonomy and reliability for AI that takes actions on a user's behalf.

Essays on Agents

October 20261 essay

20Oct 2026

Give agents permissions in steps, not all at once

Giving an agent one broad permission setting makes routine work either risky or frustrating. A permission gradient ties each action to its impact, reversibility, and evidence.

#agents#permissions#product design

September 20262 essays

29Sep 2026

Agents6 min read

Log every action before an agent retries

When an agent times out after taking an action, retrying can duplicate the work. Give every attempted action a durable record, a status and a recovery rule before trusting automation.

#agents#reliability#tool use

01Sep 2026

Agents6 min read

Give your agent domain actions, not database CRUD

Exposing raw CRUD endpoints to an AI agent leads to brittle multi-step plans and corrupted states. Design coarse-grained domain tools that enforce invariants in code.

#agents#tool use#api design

August 20261 essay

11Aug 2026

Agents2 min readShort take

An agent handoff should carry its evidence

When an AI agent passes work to a person or another agent, a conclusion alone is not enough. A compact evidence packet makes the handoff reviewable and actionable.

#agents#handoffs#reliability

July 20261 essay

25Jul 2026

Agents5 min read

Decide when your AI agent should stop

An agent spec needs more than a goal and a set of tools. Define what counts as done, when to stop, and what evidence earns another action before it touches user data.

#agents#tool use#reliability

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